Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: witeter on May 12, 2011, 10:55:49 AM
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Well I finally took the plunge and yesterday got my guitar back from the tech with a Cermic Nailbomb set in chrome (will upload pics later on 2day). Its been installed into a PRS SE custom 24 and I play through a Mesa Single Recto + Marshall 1960a cab. I boost the Mesa with an Maxon OD808.
Ive had a good play yesterday and today and I have to say that I am gradually getting more used to the pickups.
Ceramic Bridge: The first thing that struck me was how clear it was under gain; it almost felt as if the pickup had 'eaten up my gain' if that makes any sense? The sound was drier but crystal clear. Reminded me a bit of when I first got the Mesa and how clear I found the sound to be compared to other gain amps. Im really liking the bottom end so far, though again its taken till today for me to get used to it. Its really chunky and precussive though not really fat? next time i may try a Warpig as i like fat bottom ends (hmmm...dodgy sounding i know)-but dont get me wrong its really chunky and as i say,as the hours i pass im liking it more and more.
It seemed quite a dry sound as stated earlier so ive found myself adding more of the Maxon 0D808 'balance' parameter to thicken up the signal a bit. Basically the Nailbomb can take gain no problem, while another pickup would sound quite mushy and lose definition, I am actually having to ADD more gain to it! and even if i put the mesa to Gain 10 it still seems to sound good!
I havent experimented much with the Neck Pickup so will update when I have. All in all it takes a while to get used to but I am slowly adapting to it and getting used to the sound.
In conclusion its
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In conclusion it's what ?
I've recently installed RYs and I know exactly what you're talking about. They seem to take huge amounts of gain before they mush up, in fact they don't mush up full stop. I was mainly using an SG with a JB in it and found that I could only go so far with the gain before it turned into a mess. I always thought it was a limitation of my amp but that is not the case. I believe this is common to BK pups and largely a product of scatterwinding.
I can see how some folks might not actually like this because it makes you work harder. The pup doesn't 'help you along'. On the plus side, chords sound huge because the notes don't blend together and runs are so much clearer. Your audience is going to hear every note you play so you really have to be on the case.
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oops sorry dunno what happened there.
In conclusion id say that its a pickup that offers inpressive clarity but which you need to play around with-and you may have to alter amp/eq settings to get the right sound for you. Ive only had it 2 days but ive already had instances when ive gone ' i want my old pickups back' and other times when its like 'hold on a minute, that sounds great'.
Its a new sound -thats the thing- and it will take time to get used to it; as u mentioned richard it does take a lot of gain, and with my previous settings it sounds quite dry, i like my notes/chords to have that gain chunky undertone rather than completely bone dry hence why i had to mess around with Maxon OD808 a little bit more to get a sound i was comfortable with. Also the setup i got the guitar back with isnt 100% what i go for so that will change this weekend and may help the feel of some of the higher notes (which im not convinced on at the mo(again could need an EQ tweak). Again this is all on the ceramic bridge.
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Please consider that pickup height makes a helluva difference with BKs. I'm not done tweaking mine yet but I've got them set very differently to the way they were set by the tech that installed them and the improvement in sound has been vast.
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Ah thats true-will try and adjust it a wee bit and see how it goes-thanks for the tip!
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hey man adjusted the pickup height (bringing it much closer to the strings) and woah! what a difference! again im only talking about the ceramic bridge-but basically i could go back to my original Maxon OD808 settings because it no longer sounded dry, its made a huge difference in the feel and the response-cant wait to try the neck pup later.
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And here it is: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=148655638537005&set=o.226371510410&type=1&theater
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yeah, getting it closer to the strings adds a lot of low end and mids
you gotta be careful, though, or you can end mushing it up a bit on the lows
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yeah i think i will have to experiment at the moment i have it about 2mm on bridge (pole pieces to string) and 3mm in neck. Whats your experience been with pickup height? does that seem reasonable?
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there's no formula
you gotta use your ears
all variables will make difference (string height from fretboard, gauge and brand, body resonance and timbre, bridge type)
I like some pickups in some guitars very close, others with some distance
the alnico nailbomb and the miracle man I had sounded best in a "medium" height, no too close, unlike the black dog or holy diver, for example, but not too far from strings neither
but "best" is also subjective
I usually try adjusting pickup height by palm muting under higher gain and setting it as close as I can to get maximum chunk without getting compressed (which happens when it's too close)
when the bass start farting out, I lower it back a bit
open chords through gain and cleaning up by picking softly are good tests too
higher output pickups like the c-bomb might mush the mids a bit on chords if you set them too close and they are harder to clean up
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Thanks Eric-yeah its about getting a balance as i want the personality of the pickup to come through but also have enough balls-so yeah will keep messing around today and see what i get. As i said earlier the setup isnt ideal so Iam sure once i get that sorted it will also help with my quest to reach the sweet spot
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I agree with Eric 100% and I've found his comments on pickup height to be extremely helpful in the past. For some reason that I don't really understand at all, Bare Knuckle pickups respond to changes in height like no other pickup I've ever come across. Even minor adjustments make a noticeable difference. Having read Eric's comments on pickup height in other threads, I now always start with the bridge pickup set at 2mm and adjust from there until I find my sound, though my Holydiver didn't need much adjustment from that point. I then adjust the other pickups to primarily balance with the bridge.
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I concur as well and have also found that the Nailbomb sounds best around "medium" height, whereas I have the Holy Diver set higher.
Crank up that gain on the amp and enjoy!!! 8)
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Hey guys thanks for that-well the setup on the guitar is still to be sorted; took iot back to the luthier and he says he cant get it back to how it was originally..?!! he says it was probably setup wrong in the firstplace, and here i was thinking setups are subjective..hey ho, so getting it sorted by another guy next week that specialises in PRS's with tremolos.
Just had a question, is 2mm considered medium spacing? because i had my Nailbomb around 2mm and i liked the sound; just curious as to what settings you guys have your pickups at, bridge vs neck,etc.
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If the set up is out of whack then measurements are a great starting point. Once you got a decent set up any further adjustment should be minor and due to personal preference.
Cheers Stephan
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true-the setup was fine when it came back, it just wasnt what i wanted or how my guitar was setup before-too much tension on the strings, the tremolo wasnt floating,etc. I messed around with pickup height then but just wondered what other people normally do-also, does the neck pickup always tend to be lower? im always confused about this because normally neck pickups dont have as higher an output as the bridge -so wouldnt u get a big volume drop?
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The reason that neck pickups are usually set lower than the bridge pickups is because the string vibrates more in the neck position and therefore creates a stronger signal. That is a problem with many guitars that have identical (i.e. non-calibrated) pickups in the neck and bridge positions - the neck pickup then tends to be too bassy and too loud whereas the bridge pickup tends to be too bright and too thin.
Cheers Stephan
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Hey guys thanks for that-well the setup on the guitar is still to be sorted; took iot back to the luthier and he says he cant get it back to how it was originally..?!! he says it was probably setup wrong in the firstplace, and here i was thinking setups are subjective..hey ho, so getting it sorted by another guy next week that specialises in PRS's with tremolos.
Just had a question, is 2mm considered medium spacing? because i had my Nailbomb around 2mm and i liked the sound; just curious as to what settings you guys have your pickups at, bridge vs neck,etc.
Here's my set up tip that I've done for the last 15 years for bridge humbuckers. I always depress the two E strings with the same force I pick with on the frett board pressing down on the same point my pick hits the strings...I'm a heavy picker, and I adjust the pickup height to be 1mm below the strings in that depressed status. The sam goes for the neck pick up. Then there I play it and go by ear in a half turn of the srews for tone adjusting.
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Hey man thanks for that-will be getting the guitar setup early next week so will be able to mess around with pickup then-cantw ait to find the 'sweet spot' :-) how much lower do you normally put the neck pup in comparison to the bridge? cheers
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The reason that neck pickups are usually set lower than the bridge pickups is because the string vibrates more in the neck position and therefore creates a stronger signal. That is a problem with many guitars that have identical (i.e. non-calibrated) pickups in the neck and bridge positions - the neck pickup then tends to be too bassy and too loud whereas the bridge pickup tends to be too bright and too thin.
Cheers Stephan
QFT. It happens with most EMG equipped guitars. Most of the 7-string guitars equipped with EMGs come preloaded with twin EMG707s, which means that you can only EQ decently for one pickup. The ones that come with an 81 in the bridge and the 707 in the neck are far worse...
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Well took the guitar to the tech again and told him that i was having trouble getting harmonics and sustain out of the nailbombs, (which shouldnt really be happening from comments/reviews ive read). So got it back yesterday and he changed the capacitor and probably did other adjustments. Anyways its made a huge difference, as in they feel ilke different pickups and i think I now have the real sound of the Nialbombs.
The bottom end is just massive and resonant, harmonics are happening all over the place (before i could hardly get any out the nailbombs) and sustain is vastly improved. The neck pickup is lovely and warm and smooth. So I am very happy and cant wait to play with it some more, only had literally 15 minutes to check it out yesterday.
Just goes to show that sometimes small things in a guitar setup/pickup-installation can make HUGE diefferences in sound, i wanted to be excited about the Nailbombs before but to be truthful i was very dissapointed. Now i feel im getting the crushing sounds it says it delivers and cant wait to mess around more and try it out at rehearsal next weeK. Will update more later.